Rt Rev Martey making his remarks
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Rt Rev Professor Emmanuel Martey, has observed that the country needs leaders who are visionary.
“Ghana needs visionary leaders, for instance, Minister of Food and Agriculture should be able to find solutions to our food problems,” he articulated.
Rt Rev Professor Martey made this remark at a forum organized by the Ecumenical and Social Relations, Madina District, of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana on Sunday titled: “How Credible, Free and Fair Would Election 2016 Be?” It was themed: “Be of One Mind; Live in Peace.”
Speaking on the title of the forum as chairman for the occasion, the Moderator said the country needs leaders with credibility, adding that credible elections lie with all stakeholders.
L-R: Sheikh Awal Larry, Prof Kwame Karikari, Rt Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey, Charlotte Osei and Kaakyire Duku Frimpong
According to him, as Ghanaians claim to be having free and fair elections, there are some political parties that could manipulate the Electoral Commission (EC) to their advantage.
The Moderator asserted that it’s been a common practice by successive governments to weaken constitutional bodies like the EC and the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) to their advantage. He opined that if the NCCE gets adequate funding to educate the citizenry on their civic rights and responsibilities, they will be enlightened enough to criticize government policies that are inimical to their well-being, hence, the commission is always underfunded, which he said does not augur well for the country’s democratic practice.
While hailing some journalists for their objectivity and professional conduct, Rt Rev Martey condemned those who “go for GH¢50 and GH¢500” to help politicians to pursue their agenda, and warned that such journalists will not have cosmic companionship.
Dilating on the topic: “Keep your tongue from evil….Parties, politicians, media and campaign language on radio,” Professor Kwame Karikari, founder, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), and Dean of Communication Studies, Wisconsin University, pointed out, “We could do much, much better in all aspects of our lives as a people if we had wise, patriotic, visionary, selfless, broad-minded, morally strong and far-seeing leadership at the national level and in almost all sections of national life.”
He stressed the roles played by political parties in a democratic dispensation and noted that the citizens have every right and every responsibility to demand from political parties to groom and produce leaders with high sense of responsibility, patriotic consciousness and self-respect.
Prof Kwame Karikari bemoaned, “Therefore, when we wake up in the morning we want to hear from our leaders – the political parties – words of wisdom, words of sanity, words that give us enlightenment. But political parties – institutions of leadership – “choose as the people who should speak to us on radio from day to day, people whose specialization is to insult; to lie; to abuse; to threaten the lives of decent citizens; to preach violence and to provoke division in society.”
He lamented the absence of a law that regulates broadcasting, maintaining that for the past 15 years, a coalition of organizations had been working to get governments to pass a law on broadcasting but to no avail.
The communication expert indicated that the National Communications Authority (NCA), which gives licences, is under the Executive and so there is very little transparency in the work of the Authority.
In her contribution, Chairman of the EC, Charlotte Osei, took participants through the electoral process and said election should not create fear and panic. She claimed that election is credible when it is all-inclusive and transparent – from the beginning to the day of the voting.
Mrs Osei said that the independence of the EC is subject to the law, adding that all legitimate parties must be given equal opportunities according to the law. Other speakers were Sheikh Awal Larry, an Islamic cleric and A. Kaakyire Duku Frimpong, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana.
By Peter Atiemo